August 22, 2002
From Tony "Space Cadet" Moreno, 19, on the bass guitar to Chris "the Soul Man" Brooks, 18, on the main electric guitar, the Karma Flo band does flow with the music.
As the drummer Matt Moskitis, 18, carries the beat, fellow members of Karma Flo play to the same tune.
At a recent gig at Red Rocks Cafe in Centreville, band members stopped to dish about making it as a band.
"Matt and I are practically brothers," said Tony, a 2002 graduate of Mountain View High School. "The way we play musically is like we are having a conversation with each other."
Karma Flo began like all small-town bands — in a basement. What makes them stand out is their particular style. It's a mixture of jazz, rock and blues all mixed together.
"We can't even categorize it — very different and experimental but structured," said Tony.
"But we get our influences from lots of jazz greats: John Coltrane, Frank Zappa, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Hendrix and Jerry Garcia," said drummer Matt, a 2002 graduate of Centreville High School.
"Because we're all about Improvisation — we never try to force anything," said Tony when asked where they came up with the name Karma Flo. "We balance each other out musically like ying and yang."
Matt, the drummer, tells how Chris "the Soul Man" Brooks got his name. "When you listen to him play the guitar it's like a 50-year-old black jazz musician in Harlem."
Playing to a crowd of about 40 locals on Saturday, July 20, Karma Flo displays their talents from four years of jammin'.
Playing in Tony's basement at night did Karma Flo well, said Matt the drummer. First-time listener Andrew Charron said he heard about the band through his high school. "It's a very relaxing sound," Charron said of Karma Flo.
A mixture of the band's relaxing sound and its laid back attire — Tony's rolled up jeans and no shoes, Chris's jeans and sandals and Matt's unbuttoned shirt revealing his white T-shirt — made the band "so connected," says Brooks, a 2002 graduate of Westfield High School.
"They never sound tired and their music always has a great deal of energy," said Sammy Dhaliwal, a Chantilly grad.
Audience member Richard Langmeyer starts playing an impromptu bongo, bringing that energy Sammy spoke of.
The band not only gets a following from the fans but their supportive parents influence their dreams of fulfilling "the ultimate idea which would be to make this as a career," said Matt.
The future looks bright for this local band whose members plan to attend college in the fall. Tony, the coordinator, says they will continue to play on the weekends.
Karma Flo has already been featured at Red Rocks Cafe and Jamie's General Bean Coffee House.
To purchase Karma Flo's new CD entitled "Impromptu-Improv," call Tony Moreno at 703-631-7607.